Bedtime Stories
by Altaria Volante
Summary: I'm going to tell Rupert a story, a fairy story, but he has to promise to go to sleep afterwards. Okay? Once upon a time, there was a great city by the sea...


A/N: It's cute, it's fluffy, it's kidfic. Nothing like a little sugar :)

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The little girl shuffled from her bedroom across the quarters, her pink footie pajamas barely making a sound as she found her way through the dark to her parents' open door from her bedroom across the common area. She peered in hesitantly and tried to ignore the shadows that she saw crawling across the walls. They'd followed her from her room and-

She yelped and jumped as soon as she shadows moved as well. Arms clutching at a ratty stuffed bear that rarely left her side, she ran into the room yelling, 'Daddy! Daddy!' and latched onto her father's arm that dangled lazily over the side of the bed.

Carson's eyes jolted open at the sound of the little voice next to his bed, although it took him a moment to focus on the tears and the teddy bear that was not wrapped around his arm. "Wha…" he mumbled, scooping the small girl up and into his arms. It took some maneuvering, he shifted himself to a sitting position without letting go of her, never loosening his grip until he could sit her comfortably in his lap with his head back against the bedroom wall. "What's wrong, love?" he asked quietly, rubbing a hand against her back soothingly.

"Where's Mommy?" she whimpered, wrapping her arms around the ratty bear and pressing it up to her damp face.

"Your mum's on patrol tonight," Carson answered as he wiped the tears from her cheeks. Laura rarely had to work third shift these days, leaving that undesirable position to the new arrivals and the few Marines who preferred late patrol, but with two off-world teams delayed due to weather and planetary coup respectively, most of second shift stayed on for third to cover for them. He leaned forward to place a light kiss on the child's forehead as he tried to soothe away the tears. "Caitlin, tell me what's wrong. Did you have a bad dream?" he asked quietly, pulling her up from his lap to tuck her head against his shoulder.

"Shadows," Caitlin whispered, nodding slowly. "Scary shadows, like that," she added, pointing to the door way. Grey shadows danced along the walls from the reflections of the waves outside the quarters' windows. She yelped again, burying her head into his shoulder as a shadow jumped suddenly up the wall.

"Oh love, shadows can't hurt you," Carson replied, his voice low and light, his hand smoothing down her pale blonde hair as he spoke. "Let's go tuck you in again."

"No!" Caitlin wailed, releasing one arm from the hold on her bear to reach up and wrap tightly around her father's neck. "I don't wanna! Don't make me! They'll get me!"

"Shh, nothing's going to get you," Carson sighed. It wasn't worth the argument to get her back into bed tonight. And they'd been doing so well with her sleeping in her own bed lately. "Do you want to sleep in here with me tonight? You can keep me company since Mum's on patrol and I might get lonely," he added with a small grin. Caitlin nodded against his chest, still sniffling from the tears she cried before. "Alright, love. Let's get a bit more comfortable." He shifted her from his arms to sit beside him as he slid back down against the pillow and tucked an arm under his head. Caitlin, with her bear still close in tow, curled into the spot between him and his free arm and laid her head against his shoulder. "They won't get you in here, I promise," he assured her quietly, placing his hand against her bear to completely wrap her in his arm. "They'd have to get through me and your mum in the hallway, and nothing can do that. Now, close your eyes and go back to sleep. We've got a busy day tomorrow," he added. He leaned over, placing a light kiss on the top of her head before sinking back against the pillow with a sigh. At least the shadow problem would easily be solved, he thought contentedly as he closed his eyes and attempted to fall back asleep.

But no problem was easily solved with a four-year-old, he reminded himself as the sharp poking of small little fingers started against his arm. "Daddy?" she whispered.

"Hmm?"

"Rupert can't sleep," she answered seriously.

"Why can't Rupert sleep?" Carson asked, used to talking to her through the teddy bear late at night.

Caitlin pushed the bear up so that the blank face could 'look' at her father. "He wants you to tell him a story."

Carson shifted his arm from beneath his head to hold the bear's hand. "And what sort of story would Rupert like to hear? How about the stories of St. Brigid or St. Patrick?" he asked lightly in Gaelic. He'd taken to telling her stories from home in their original tongue, hoping to teach her a bit of the language his grandmother had taught him when he was young. And she was picking it up faster than he realized she would, much to his amusement. But that wasn't for tonight, he realized as she shook her head no.

"Rupert wants a new story," Caitlin answered. "A fairy story."

"A fairy story?" Carson repeated. He stared up at the darkened ceiling, trying to pull a new fairy story from his mind. Caitlin loved her bedtime stories, and took great joy in insisting on the story or stories she wanted on any particular night. It was his favorite time of the day because the stories were something of his to give to his little girl. When she was very little, Laura had attempted to do story time when he was detained off-world conducting routine vaccinations. And he loved that woman will all his heart, but the poor thing couldn't tell a story that didn't end up sounding like you were sitting at a table for a debriefing. The next night, Caitlin had informed her mother in no uncertain terms that story time was his because 'Daddy told the best stories'. Laura had tried her best to look insulted but she couldn't, he remembered fondly, because she'd told him the same thing before.

"Can I tell any fairy story?" he asked.

"Rupert wants a new story." Caitlin snuggled against him and pulled the bear back down into her arms. "He can't sleep without a new story."

But he'd told all of the fairytales he could remember to Caitlin, and she usually loved to hear her favorites – Snow White, in particular. She would jump in at parts she knew and correct him when he started changing the story a bit to see if she caught on. But she wanted something new tonight, and he was racking his brain to think of one he hadn't told her yet.

Or… make a story into a fairytale for her.

"Alright," Carson answered after a moment of thought. "I'm going to tell Rupert a new story. A new _fairy_ story, but afterwards," he said, tilting his head to look down at the little girl snuggled in his arm, "Rupert has to promise to go to sleep. Will he do that?"

Caitlin pressed the bear's scruffy face to her ear and smiled. "He said yes."

Carson stretched slightly and settled back into the pillow. "Alright. A new fairy story… for Rupert. Once upon a time, there was a great kingdom in the sea. Do you know the name of that kingdom?"

"Atlantis!" Caitlin answered happily.

"Aye, that's right," Carson chuckled, secretly proud at how quick she caught on to that. "The great kingdom of Atlantis. Now, this great kingdom was led by a queen."

"Is she pretty?"

"What do you think?"

Caitlin paused in thought for a second. "I think she's really pretty."

"Aye, she's quite lovely," Carson agreed. "Kind and thoughtful, and very smart. Being that kind of person, this queen was not content to live in the city alone with her subjects. There were so many riches in the city that should be shared, she thought. So this queen wished to know everyone in the worlds surrounding the great kingdom of Atlantis so that they might make new friends. So what did she do?" Caitlin shrugged, happily engaged in the story. "She sent out her most trusted friend, the great Prince of Atlantis, and his knights to explore and befriend all of the peoples that they met," Carson continued.

"They met many peoples. Some were so enchanted by the Prince and his knights that they chose to come back to Atlantis with him, to serve him and their queen as the knights and people of the city did so that they too could learn about the great kingdom. Others they met were jealous of the beauty of the great kingdom and felt their hearts harden against the Prince and his knights, and against all the peoples of the kingdom of Atlantis."

"Were the people scared of Atlantis?"

"Aye, some were," Carson replied. "Atlantis held many secrets, and only the worthy could learn from her. Some were scared at the power she held within her walls. But this story isn't about those peoples," he added with a knowing grin. "This story is about the sky dragons."

"The sky dragons?"

"Aye. As Atlantis ruled the sea, so did dragons rule the air. The sky dragons were jealous of the beautiful city and the power that she held, and wanted these things for themselves. They were jealous of the great Prince and wanted him for themselves. But there was one dragon, and young girl-"

"Like me?"

"No, a wee bit older. But this young girl dragon was different from the rest of her kind. She was thoughtful and sweet and didn't wish to be a dragon any longer. She wished to be like the great Prince and his knights and return with them to Atlantis where she could learn great things. So, one day, the great Prince traveled to meet this dragon because, like great Princes often do, he wanted to help her."

"Did he help her? Did she get back to Atlantis?"

"The great Prince tried, but it was a trap set by the other dragons to trick the girl and the people from the kingdom of Atlantis. They chased the knights far across the land until, in order to save his friends, the great Prince remained behind to fight back the dragons as best he could.

"The dragons attacked the great Prince with their claws and their tails, but when they had the great Prince in their grasp, they looked to each other and one said, 'Why do we stand here? We should kill him and be done with it!' But the other said, 'No. Let us make him like us so that he will be a dragon as well. Then we will have the great Prince and the kingdom of Atlantis will not.'

"So, the dragons changed the great Prince into a dragon, but not completely. There was too much good inside the great Prince to ever _really_ become a dragon. But he was ashamed and scared, and afraid that he would hurt his knights and friends if they came too close to him. He attempted to fly away, but his wings wouldn't carry him. 'What good am I if I cannot fight or fly?' he asked himself, sinking into a deep despair."

"He was sad. And lonely?"

Carson nodded. "Very lonely. But those in the great kingdom could not stand by and watch their beloved Prince become a dragon and leave them. The queen commanded that everything should be done to save the great Prince and many days passed as the knights tried to think of ways to change their friend back. Each day, the Prince grew more and more as a dragon. The scales crept up his skin, and the small wings that sprouted from his back became full grown, finally allowing him to fly on his own. If they left him much longer, he might wish to stay a dragon forever!"

"Did he stay a dragon?" Caitlin asked curiously, still clutching Rupert to her.

"Do you think he stayed a dragon?"

Caitlin shook her head. "No. They found a way to change him back!"

Carson smiled and reached over to tickle her. "Aye, that they did!" he replied over her delighted giggles. "The healer of the kingdom created a magical potion that could transform the dragon back into the Prince, but they had to work fast. There wasn't much time and the potion was very, very dangerous.

"The knights went off in search of the ingredients that the healer needed to brew his magical potion. They searched high and low and had gathered everything that they needed, except for one thing. The fruit of the Kasos tree. The fruit only grows on the tip top branches of the tree, much higher than any of the knights themselves could reach. 'What will we do?' they cried. 'If we do not have this, then we cannot heal our Prince!'

"The Prince heard their cries and even in his dragon form desired to help his knights and friends. He flew from the kingdom to the land where they were searching, reaching down to pluck the fruit from the highest branch of the tree as he flew past. He was still their prince, and nothing, not even being a dragon, would keep him from helping his friends.

"So, they took the ingredients back to the healer, who brewed his potion and gave it to the dragon Prince. The great Prince drank the potion and was transformed back into their beloved human prince. The dragons of the air were angry – they wanted the Prince as one of their own! They attempted to steal the Prince once again, but the great Prince brandished his sword and with the help of his knights, defended the great kingdom and those inside it from having any more of them taken by the dragons that day. The dragons few back up to the sky, defeated, and the Queen breathed a sigh of relief that they were safe from the dragons once more.

"But the dragons were not gone forever. No, they sit and wait… wait for the time when the great Prince cannot defeat them again."

"Will they ever win?" Caitlin asked, stifling a small yawn as she spoke.

Carson shook his head. "No. Never. The kingdom of Atlantis is a magical city, and the great Prince is a magical prince. He always stands ready to defend the kingdom."

Caitlin smiled and leaned her head tiredly on her father's shoulder. "Rupert liked that."

"Is Rupert tired yet?"

Caitlin nodded and yawned again, a small, quiet yawn. "He's sleepy," she said, closing her eyes. "I love you, Daddy."

Carson shifted to kiss the little girl on the forehead before resting his head against the pillow again. "I love you too. Sleep well, love."


End file.
